Photo by Hạ Vy
Plots of land divided into small parcels in Tiên Trang commune, Quảng Xương district (Thanh Hoá province) have been waiting for a price drop after multiple transactions. Investors who own land here are feeling “sad” as they struggle to sell at a loss.
At the beginning of 2024, the real estate market in Thanh Hoá province has seen almost no transactions. Buying and selling activities or auctions have been quiet. The plots of land that were booming in the early 2022 are now being offered for sale without any interested buyers.
In addition to the “idle” plots of land within the village, coastal land (along the road to the beach) that used to be popular among buyers also faces stagnant transactions. According to a self-taught broker when real estate in Thanh Hoá was hot, the prices of land plots in Quảng Xương district have dropped by nearly 30% compared to the peak prices at the end of 2020-2021. Plots of land that were previously sold for prices ranging from 500 million to 2 billion VND per plot are now back to the prices of late 2019. Many investors who bought land in mid-2022 until now are feeling “sad” about their investment. Land auctions held in late 2023 or early 2024 have not received much attention from buyers as in previous periods.
According to a land broker in Thanh Hoá, during the late 2021 and early 2022, land plots in Tiên Trang commune, Quảng Xương district were sold for billions of VND higher within a few weeks. For example, a plot of land with an area over 200m2 was initially priced at 1.7 billion VND per plot. An investor paid a deposit of 50 million VND and then sold it to another investor at a price of 2.7 billion VND. After less than a month, another investor bought it at a price of 3.7 billion VND per plot. “Most of the coastal land in Thanh Hoá was trading at such high price differences during the late 2021 period,” said the broker.
Looking at the extent of the increase in real estate prices in Thanh Hoá during the land fever period, it surprises many people. The lowest increase ranges from 40-50% per year, with some areas experiencing a 100% or even 200% increase within a year. Some roads in Thanh Hoá city have property prices comparable to major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, reaching 80-100 million VND/m2. Coastal areas can see their land prices fluctuate by 200-300% within 2 years. Both companies and private investors tend to “stock up” on coastal land to sell at high prices.
Now that the land fever has passed, investment and trading activities have significantly decreased. In the middle of 2023, there was a flood of information about distressed property sales in Thanh Hoá province. Many investors who were holding land sought to “cut losses” in order to recover their capital. Others unintentionally became residents as they were unable to sell their land and had to accept building houses for themselves.
According to experts, the current liquidity situation in Thanh Hoá real estate is the result of the previous market fever and inflated prices. Currently, the downward adjustment in land prices in Thanh Hoá is still modest compared to the price increases in the previous period.
